This morning we woke up to minus 26 degrees Celsius and it's been like that for the last few days here in the great white north. Yesterday morning was even worse, we woke up to minus 33 degrees Celsius and with the wind chill, it was minus 41... Yes you heard right and the day before that it was a balmy minus 28 with a wind chill that put us at minus 30 something. Brrr! These kind of days make me wonder why I live here. However, they also help me realize how blessed we are.
Why do I bring this up? Because it’s on these days that the homeless sit heavy on my mind. Have you ever noticed during the warm days their out and about, doing their daily routines? Such as finding bottles to make enough cash for a meal, maybe scoping out a certain area they want to claim for a nights rest, they're there in plain sight -- but it's on these extremely cold days that those same people become invisible.
They hide from the cold, trying to find a place to stay out of the wind and when it's this cold, it's almost impossible to scour the back alleys to find those ever elusive bottles they so desperately need. Not only that, let's face it, we all hunker down inside, not wandering to far from the comfort of our warm buildings, complaining how cold it is and whining to management to turn the heat up, so we don't have wear that sweater that's draped over the back of our chair.
On these days, the homeless' fight for survival, is no longer to get through the next twenty four hours, it's trying to get through the next minute, hoping a hot meal might be on the horizon or better yet, that they make it through the night. The reason they're there is not for me to question nor judge, everyone's story is different and it would do some of us good to remember that 60% of middle class families (yes people you know) are one paycheque away from homelessness themselves.
We are blessed with our ability to be able to give a toque, mitts, scarf or maybe, something as simple as putting those empties out in a back alley instead of taking them to the bottle depot.
Have a great day.
